So the other day in my First-Year Seminar, we were talking about social media and the impact it can have in people's lives. It reminded me a lot of the effect that the Pop Art movement of the 1960's had on people's lives. Warhol, Litchenstein and other artists forced people to look at what was important or valuable to them because what they did was take pre-existing images or advertisements and reinterpret them. Suddenly people were elevating everyday images to the status of "art" which could include masterpieces from the Renaissance and classical antiquity. I've found that today we do the same thing with Instagram, where we find images that exist in everyday life, run a filter through them, and declare them to be photographs. Which begs the questions, what is art, and what effect does social media have on art?

Again, both Pop Art and Instagram deal with the concept of taking images you see every day and elevating them to an artistic status they don't necessarily deserve. Like how everyone uploads photos of their lo mein noodles from lunch. Yeah, I had a bacon cheeseburger, but you don't need to know that. It would be different if people used a camera and worked with the lenses and got an amazing picture but the editing is enhancement that anyone can do. Not that I know how to work a camera, but I have mad respect for people who do and we shouldn't discount what they do just because we have the technology that allows us to (for lack of a better term) take pretty pictures. And I'm not discrediting the Pop Art movement or the app- I use Instagram constantly and love it, and Andy Warhol is one of my favorite artists of all time.

I'm just saying we shouldn't take it so seriously and we shouldn't forget there are people out there who really dedicate time to photography and have great results because of it. Instagram should be used to show people ordinary things in an extraordinary way. So Instagram away, just reconsider that fifth photo of you dog. Below I have provided some photos from my Instagram stream. You can follow me, @jane_aus10 .

Crushed paint pigments

The Grand Canal

Venetian Graffiti

San Vitale, Ravenna

Bicycle in Rome

Jeffery Campbell Lita's

Nylon Magazine, August 2012

While we're on the subject of social media, you can find me on these sites:

facebook: facebook.com/KeepCalmandChiffon

tumblr: tumblr.com/KeepCalmandChiffon

instagram: jane_aus10

pinterest: jane_aus10

and as always if you want to get in contact with me, send thoughts, comments, or anything to: